Doctor Doom‘s status quo in the Marvel Universe has been altered drastically through the Secret Wars and Civil War II event series. The latest issue of Infamous Iron Man just threw another unexpected twist into Victor’s life.
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Spoilers for Infamous Iron Man #5 follow.
Doctor Doom was God-King of Battleworld during the events of Secret Wars. When his reign was ended he returned to Earth with a fully-healed face and a desire to walk a more righteous path. When Iron Man fell during the events of Civil War II, Doom saw his chance to step up as a hero by taking Tony Stark’s place.
Others have regarded Doom’s heroic turn with apprehension, particularly the Thing, Doom’s old foe from the Fantastic Four who is now working for SHIELD. The Thing decides to investigate what Doom was up to and so he visited Latveria, the nation Doom used to rule. Upon entering Doom’s castle, the Thing was unexpectedly greeted by Doctor Doom’s mother, Cynthia von Doom.
Cynthia places a spell on the Thing that slowly and painfully saps the life out of him. Luckily for the Thing, Iron Man – Victor von Doom – is in the area and investigates the arcane energy he sees emanating from his former home.
Doom is shocked to find his own mother alive and doesn’t believe that she is who she claims at first. Cynthia’s magical powers seem to back up her claim since she was known to be a powerful witch, but Doctor Doom is still skeptical. After all, Doom did travel into Hell itself to find his mother’s soul and save it.
Cynthia leaves without giving her son a satisfactory explanation for how she’s alive and why she hasn’t contacted him. All parties go their separate ways, but Cynthia is later shown studying her son in her witch’s cauldron. Another figure steps out of the shadows, that of Doom’s greatest rival, Reed Richards, leader of the Fantastic Four.
Reed and Cynthia are apparently working together, though their goals remain unclear. This is not the Reed Richards, but a Reed Richards, specifically the Reed Richards of Earth-1610, the Ultimate Marvel Universe, also known as the Maker. The Maker does not share his Earth-616 counterpart’s heroic tendencies and has been popping up as an antagonist throughout the Marvel Universe since it was reformed after Secret Wars, leading an organization called WHISPER. As writer Brian Michael Bendis revealed to ComicBook.com, Infamous Iron Man‘s next story arc will pit this villainous Reed Richards against the newly heroic Doctor Doom.
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Reed’s involvement with Cynthia von Doom raises some questions about her origin. Could she be another refugee from a dead Earth? Did the Maker pull her forcibly from another dimension? Could he have simply found a way to bring the actual Earth-616 Cynthia von Doom back from the dead? Hopefully, future issues of Infamous Iron Man will shed some light on these questions.
Infamous Iron Man #5 is on sale now.
Infamous Iron Man #5
DEC160954
(W) Brian Michael Bendis (A/CA) Alex Maleev
• What is Doom’s secret? Why, after all, he has done to destroy and punish us, is he now determined to become the hero?
• Find the answer here. But can you trust anything he says or does?
• Plus: The identity of his new cosmic-level adversary is revealed! And it’s a doozy.
Rated T+
In Shops: Feb 22, 2017
SRP: $3.99
